Fade
by Renchikara
Summary: The evil from one universe is planning to resurrect an the evil of another. And the only ones who can stop them are the heroes from both worlds, working together. Pairings: IchiRuki, SoMa.
1. Chapter 1

**One**

* * *

**~Maka~**

I watch my friends play basketball with disdain plastered on my face. Yet again, Black*Star asked me to join them, not because I'm a good player or the fact that he's concerned I'll get bored, but because I'm the odd one out, and Black*Star always wants to the one to stand out because he's intent on 'surpassing God'.

'Egotistical idiot,' I mutter under my breath. I would much rather sit here on this bench, enjoying the sunshine while reading a book.

'You know, your brain's gonna explode from all that information you read the whole time,' Soul chides, coming to stand beside me. 'Not cool.'

'Shut up, Soul,' I reply. 'Besides, I'm not alone.' I look to my right to see Crona crouching on the bench, watching the rest of our friends.

'You sure you don't want to play, Crona?' Soul asks.

'No, no, I'm fine thank you very much!' Crona replies hastily, showing a reluctant smile. He's gotten better at being around other people but evidently he's not in the mood to interact with others either today. Soul sighs and makes his way back to the game.

'Would you rather just watch them?' I ask Crona.

'Mm,' Crona says, nodding.

'I guess it's like reading a book,' I murmur. 'You read about it happening but you don't participate in the story.'

* * *

**~Rukia~**

'That was number four,' I say as I sheath my sword and the Hollow disappears behind me.

'Any others we need to take care of?' Ichigo asks, flashstepping beside me. We're standing in a deserted street not far from the river, and it's about ten o'clock at night. I check my pager to confirm that there are no more Hollows.

'No more,' I reply.

'Good!' he says. 'Man, I am so tired!'

'Don't get your hopes up,' I warn him. 'You know how Hollows are, appearing at any random time-'

_Beep beep! Beep beep!_

Ichigo groans. 'We are so unlucky.'

I put the soul pager back in my pocket and mutter, 'Come on. Nobody else is going to deal with this one, it's right beside your house-'

'Oh, how convenient,' Ichigo says sarcastically. I grimace and then leap into the night.

It takes Ichigo the best part of ten seconds to destroy the Hollow. I'm about to ask him whether that's his record when I sense a familiar spiritual pressure behind me. I turn to see a senkaimon opening and Renji comes through, an extremely panicked look on his face.

'Rukia, Ichigo!' he yells. 'This is bad, this is really bad!'

'Calm down, you fool!' I command. 'What happened?'

'It's Aizen,' Renji moans. 'He's escaped!'

* * *

**~Death the Kid~**

'Remind me again- why are we coming out here into the forest?' Liz asks.

'Yeah, I seriously have better things to do with my time!' Black*Star says.

'Are we going to be training?' Tsubaki questions.

'No,' I reply. 'Allow me to explain: my father detected a strange rip in the air towards the east of these woods, so we were instructed to investigate-'

'What do you mean by 'a strange rip'?' Soul asks curiously.

'It's like a doorway in the air. You can see through it into a black void.'

'A black void?' Maka echoes. 'You mean like an alternate dimension?'

'Something like that, yes,' I answer.

'So awesome!' Patti cries cheerfully.

'Yes, well, if it's going to be disturbing the peace of Death City I'm afraid we simply cannot tolerate it,' I say.

'Since when has Death City ever been peaceful?' Soul mutters under his breath. Maka giggles and Soul grins his sharp-toothed grin.

'So, uh... what are we going to do about it when we get there?' Liz says after a moment's thought.

'Um... well, uh... we're here,' I say, noticing a tear in front of us. It's black and about the right size for two or three people to fit through at a time. But there's one thing that catches my eye in particular: it is jagged and spiky around the edges and the two trees on either side of it are... not...

'IT'S NOT SYMMETRICAL!' I wail.

'Oh well,' Liz says in a bored voice.

'Hey, this is really cool!' Black*Star shouts hysterically. 'First one there is the one who's gonna surpass God!'

'Black*Star, I don't think we're supposed to go through!' Tsubaki cries.

'No, no one is going through!' I instruct. 'We need to work out what it is first.'

* * *

**~Ichigo~**

'He went through this!' Renji gasps, motioning towards a sort of portal on the outside of Karakura Town, next to the forest. Rukia and I stare at it.

'Is it a senkaimon?' I ask. 'Or a garganta?'

Rukia shakes her head. 'Definitely not a senkaimon. As for a garganta... they don't usually stay open for long. You know I told you about the numerous dimensions there are out there?'

'Now that you mention it, yeah.'

'I would imagine that Aizen went into here to hide until he regains all his strength. And it is our job,' Rukia continues, unsheathing her sword, 'to investigate.'

'I was afraid you were gonna say that,' Renji mutters. 'Shouldn't we wait for backup from the Soul Society?'

'_You_ can, I'm going through,' Rukia says simply.

'Well, would you look at that,' I laugh. 'Rukia Kuchiki is breaking the rules!'

'Tell my brother and you're dead,' Rukia hisses.

'He'll probably find out anyway,' Renji mutters. 'It's not like the Department of Research and Development are going to miss a thing. They're going to send agents at any minute to check it out.'

'Well, it's now or never,' I say.

The three of us jump into the portal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

* * *

**~Maka~**

Tsubaki and Liz gasp. The rest of us turn from our conversation to see what's happened and...

Whoa.

There are _people_ coming out of the void.

The first is a pretty girl around my height with short raven black hair and violet eyes. She is wearing a black kimono and she looks just as shocked as I feel. Behind her is a tall woman of breathtaking beauty. She, too, is wearing a kimono, although this one is white with a ribbon going around her tied up at the back like a bun. Her hair is long and pale lavender.

Behind her comes a man with vibrant red hair and the same outfit as the first girl. He wears a white headband and has strange black tattoos on his face. Next to him comes a woman with a curvy body and messy hair, wearing a green furry outfit and a chain around her waist connected to the collar of a small boy with pinkish red hair and what looks like a white snake outfit.

Next is a teen with hair a violent shade of orange. He too is wearing that same black kimono, except his has a red strap going down the front. With him is a tall man with sun shades and long dark hair that seems to blow despite the fact that there's only a light breeze. He is wearing a dark outfit that also seems to blow around as if it's windy. Finally, there is another teen, like an exact replica of the orange-haired teen, except that this one is albino and wears a white kimono. If it wasn't for the colour theory, I'm sure Kid would be practically worshipping the twins for their symmetry.

For a few seconds everybody is in shock, completely silent, then Black*Star voices the question that I'm sure everyone is thinking:

'What- the- hell?'

The petite girl fixes her eyes on the beautiful woman. 'Sode no Shirayuki? Why have you manifested?'

'Zabimaru?' the redhead gasps, as he catches sight of the messy-haired woman and the small boy.

The orange-haired teen stares at the tall man with the dark hair in disbelief. 'Zangetsu? What are you doing here? How can you-?' He breaks off as the albino catches his attention. His eyes widen in horror.

'Aaargh!' he shrieks, pointing at his twin. 'What are _you_ doing here?!'

'Nice to see you too, Ichigo,' the albino says with a smirk.

* * *

**~Soul~**

'Could somebody please explain what's going on?' Liz asks.

'Yeah, I'd like to know too!' Patti adds.

Kid, however, is staring at two of the new arrivals, the orange-haired teen and his albino twin, a stunned expression on his face.

'Symmetrical,' I hear him whisper. I roll my eyes and step forward.

'Who are you people?' I ask as confidently as I can.

The raven-haired girl regains her composure and also steps forward. 'I am Rukia Kuchiki, and I believe yours is another dimension to the one we belong in.'

'I'm Soul Eater Evans, and what exactly are you?' I continue.

'We're Soul Reapers,' Rukia explains, motioning herself, the redhead and the orange-haired teen. 'And these are our zanpakutô, our weapons,' she finishes, waving off the rest. 'Though how they have manifested, we do not know,' she adds darkly under her breath.

'Yeah, would any of you zanpakutô care to enlighten us?' the orange-haired teen says, continuing to eye his twin with disdain.

'No idea,' the tall man, Zangetsu, says in a deep voice. 'Perhaps in this dimension, something made us weapons manifest.'

'You mean, where you come from, weapons stay in permanent weapon form?' Maka says incredulously. 'I'm Maka Albarn, by the way,' she adds.

'That's not the case here?' Rukia asks.

'No, we can switch between human and weapon form whenever we like,' I contribute.

''We'?' the redhead echoes.

'I'm a weapon. A scythe,' I tell them. 'Liz and Patti here are guns and Tsubaki can transform into a range of different weapons.'

'I'm guessing by 'Soul Reaper' you mean 'Meister',' Tsubaki says. 'As in like, you wield these weapons?'

'Yes, that's true,' Rukia muses.

'Why have you come here?' I ask.

'Never mind that- are any of you good at fighting?' Black*Star interrupts.

The albino opens his mouth but his orange-haired twin shoots him a death glare and hisses, 'Don't even think about it.'

'Nobody's fighting,' Rukia says firmly. 'We haven't come here to make enemies with anyone.'

* * *

**~Rukia~**

'So what now?' Renji asks.

'Well... the only person we need to worry about is Aizen right now. He's our number one priority,' I say. 'I need to ask- have any of you seen another man come through this portal?'

'No, we've only just got here,' Maka says, smiling apologetically. 'Is he a friend of yours?'

'Hell no!' Ichigo shouts, and I send him a warning look. 'He's evil! And dangerous! We need to find him before something bad happens!'

'Is he a threat to Death City, the place where we live?' Soul Eater Evans asks.

'I don't know,' I say darkly. 'The thing is, he's a criminal in our world. He's killed people and he planned on destroying our homes and lives, but luckily he was defeated and locked up. But, as you've probably gathered, he escaped.'

We get the expected result: the people of this dimension all looked shocked and panicked.

'Who's in charge here?' Sode no Shirayuki asks.

'Lord Death,' Maka replies quietly. 'We can take you to him.'

'Thanks, that would be great,' I answer. 'Come on, everyone.'

The other group lead the way with us following behind. Snake, one of the Zabimaru spirits (Renji's zanpakutô) hits it off straight away with one of the gun sisters, Patti. I strike conversation with Maka, and the blue-haired kid who I learn is called 'Black*Star' runs off ahead shouting 'YAHOO!'. Ichigo starts talking in a hushed tone to Zangetsu, making sure his Hollow doesn't step out of line. Renji and the other Zabimaru spirit, Monkey, are also talking and Sode no Shirayuki tunes into my conversation with Maka.

'In our world,' I explain, 'there are these evil creatures called 'Hollows'. When you die, your soul either becomes a normal ghost or a Hollow, depending on whether you've lived a good life or not. Normal ghosts, or 'Wholes', need to be sent to the Soul Society or they'll become Hollows. Hollows feast on souls, both the living and the dead, to satisfy the emptiness inside them. As Soul Reapers, it's our job to send souls to the Soul Society where they can live in peace, and destroy Hollows.'

'But... didn't you tell me earlier that he is a Hollow?' Maka says, shooting a nervous glance at Hollow Ichigo. 'Doesn't that mean that he's... dangerous?'

'I've never met him before,' I whisper back. 'But he's a part of Ichigo's soul so I guess we can trust him. Not all Hollows are evil.'

Kid (a dark-haired boy with three white stripes on his hair and yellow eyes) is continuing to stare at Ichigo and his Hollow. I lean closer to Maka and whisper, 'Why's he looking at them like that?'

Maka laughs. 'Oh, Kid's got what we like to call OTT OCD- Over The Top Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He absolutely loves symmetry. Trust me, if it wasn't for the difference in their colour theory, he would be kissing their feet by now. So... this 'Aizen'... what exactly did he do?'

'He, along with two other captains in the Gotei Thirteen of the Soul Society, betrayed us and went to Hueco Mundo, the world where Hollows live. They built an army of Arrancars, powerful humanoid Hollows, and planned to destroy the Soul Society and Karakura Town, a human town, in order to kill the Soul King.'

'But... why?'

'To become the king himself.'

'So then... what exactly is he planning on doing to our dimension?' Maka asks, a seriously worried look in her eyes.

'I wish I knew,' I reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**~Ichigo~**

Soul joins us and tells us about this world. Here, there are evil creatures called Kishin that devour pure souls (so not that different from Hollows really) and it is the job of the Meisters (people like Kid, Black*Star and Maka) to destroy them with their Weapons (Liz, Patti, Tsubaki and Soul). Seems pretty straightforward to me.

The seven of them attend a school called the Death Weapon Meister Academy, or the DWMA for short. It is run by Death himself, which kind of creeps me out a little, considering we're gonna meet him soon. I'm extremely startled when I find out that Kid's real name is Death the Kid, Lord Death's son.

I also find out that they battled the most powerful Kishin, Asura, not long ago. Yet again, I'm shocked to discover that Maka, a harmless seeming girl, is the one who actually defeated him.

Soul goes off to talk to Kid and I say to Zangetsu, 'We can't leave until we've found Aizen, can we?'

'We have to make that our number one priority,' Zangetsu agrees.

'But until we work out what to do and where to find him...' I turn to face my Hollow. 'You need to go back. Now.'

'But I just got here!' he whines.

'I don't care!' I shout. 'As much as I don't like having you living in my mind, to protect the lives of everyone in this entire universe, you need to go back to my inner world. No buts.'

'Yeah, and just how do I do that?' he says, grinning.

'… I don't know!' I snarl. 'Zangetsu, think of something!'

'I think I'd have to go back too in order for that to work,' Zangetsu says slowly. 'And I don't know how to do it in this world.'

'Oh, great!' I hiss. 'Now I have to keep an eye on him twenty-four/seven.' I jerk my head towards my Hollow.

'Quit overreacting and shut up, Ichigo,' comes Rukia's voice from ahead of us.

* * *

**~Soul~**

'This is Death City!' Maka announces as the buildings come into view. The newcomers stare at them in wonder.

'As you can see, when you stand at at this angle, everything is perfectly symmetrical- Black*Star, stop ruining the image!' Kid shouts.

'Hey everybody! It's about time you all got here!' the obnoxious, blue-haired idiot yells, standing on one of the tallest first buildings, waving his arms frantically.

'Black*Star, get down from there!' Tsubaki cries.

'I just wanna give everyone a proper welcome! Be grateful that I, the incredible Black*Star, the one who's gonna surpass God is- ah- arghhh!'

The idiot has slipped and is now falling. Figures.

'That one is going to hurt,' I mutter.

I swear a blur of orange whips past me and the next thing I know, Black*Star is under Ichigo's arm at the foot of the building.

'Whoa...' I say in awe.

'Hey! I did not need saving! I obviously had an amazing plan up my sleeve-'

'Black*Star, do me a favour and shut up,' Ichigo sighs.

'That was so awesome- how did you do that?!' Patti squeals.

'Flashstep,' Rukia answers. In the next second she's standing beside the building too. 'Like that.'

'That's pretty cool,' I say, grinning.

* * *

**~Death the Kid~**

'Father, we're back,' I say as I approach the mirror where Lord Death stands. Spirit (the Death Scythe and Maka's father) is also there. I look back at the newcomers to see how they're taking this. They're all staring at my father.

'Hello, hello, hello!' Lord Death says joyfully, waving his huge hands at us. 'Welcome back! And who are our guests?'

'They're from an alternate dimension,' I explain. 'They've come here looking for-'

'Maka~!' Spirit shouts, bounding over to his daughter, only to receive a Maka Chop (where Maka uses a book to hit her victim on the head).

'Maka~... why won't you hug your dear papa~?' Spirit sobs, lying on the ground at her feet with runny eyes and nose.

'Uh... clean yourself up... urgh...' Soul mutters. 'Not cool.'

'Maka~... Mak- huh?' Spirit sits up, staring at the woman behind Rukia, Sode no Shirayuki. Blood begins to pour from his nose. 'Hot... hot...'

'PAPA!' Maka yells, giving him another Maka Chop for good measure. Sode no Shirayuki blushes slightly, looking somewhere between irritated and amused. Rukia smirks.

'So anyway, tell me the whole story!' my father says.

Between Rukia, Maka and I we tell the story. Soul and Ichigo add in parts that we forget. Rukia explains about their enemy, Aizen, and what has happened in the past involving him. She tells us all about the Soul Society, and by the end I'm willing to consider these newcomers allies.

* * *

**~Maka~**

'You guys can stay here as long as you need to,' I say as we enter the underground tunnels. 'We have a lot of spare rooms down here and- oh hey, Crona!'

'Maka!' Crona says in a flustered voice as he appears out of his room. He spots the newcomers behind me and a terrified expression crosses over his face. 'M-M-Mak-k-ka. I should p-p-probab-b-bly g-g-go...' he runs back in and slams the door.

'… Is it something we did?' Snake asks nervously.

'Crona's just very nervous around new people,' I say.

'Is it a girl or a boy?' Snake whispers to Monkey. She hits him on the head, and Renji snorts with laughter.

'Well, anyway, you can have any of the spare rooms,' I say. 'Oh, and Lord Death wanted to know whether any of you would like to enrol at the academy. It looks as if we might need need to fight this Aizen guy together, and we do a lot of training at the DMWA.'

'Yes, I'd like to,' Rukia says immediately. 'Although Zangetsu, Monkey and Sode no Shirayuki are probably too old for school.'

'Nevertheless, they are your weapons. They probably don't need to attend classes but they should come to the training sessions,' says Kid.

'That's fine,' says Rukia, nodding.

'What about Snake?' Monkey says. 'He'll get into no end of trouble if somebody doesn't keep an eye on him.'

'Same goes for him,' Ichigo says, nodding his head towards his Hollow, who growls in anger.

'Well, I'll watch Snake and you watch your Hollow,' Renji says fairly.

'Classes start tomorrow- see you guys later,' I say. 'Oh, and... about Professor Stein... uh... well, you'll see.'

I wonder what they'll make of him when they find out he'll probably want to dissect them.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

**SoMa throughout the chapter... a little IchiRuki at the end... I'm fun like that.**

* * *

**~Soul~**

Lessons with Stein go surprisingly well, though the gleam in his eyes tells us that he is certainly interested in the newcomers. Well, who isn't? They've come from an alternate dimension after all. Luckily, no dissecting is involved, so we can have some relatively good lessons without having to worry about anyone being chopped up.

After our lunch hour, we have a free period where we decide to visit the portal in the forest again so Rukia can go through and contact the Soul Society to let them know what happened. Apparently she and Renji may be in trouble for abandoning their posts, but Ichigo should be fine as he is a human and he never listens to the Soul Society anyway.

'Hey, can we go through?!' Black*Star shouts excitedly as we walk through the forest towards the portal. 'Maybe I'll find a worthy opponent on the other side!'

'If you do go through, I can easily visualise you getting butchered by Kenpachi,' Ichigo says coolly.

Black*Star pouts. 'Like hell! I bet I could beat this 'Kenpachi' guy!'

'I beg to differ.'

'Seriously, It's not a good idea,' Rukia says knowingly.

'Black*Star, we don't want to be fighting our allies,' Tsubaki chides.

'Once we've finished with contacting the Soul Society, I think we should get some training done,' Kid suggests.

'Yes, that sounds like a good idea,' Rukia says.

'You obviously fight with your Weapons very differently in your dimension,' Kid continues, 'but as your Weapons materialised the moment you entered our universe, I think you're going to have to learn our way of fighting as yours may not work.'

'How exactly is yours different?' Ichigo asks.

'Well,' I say, deciding to input my ideas, 'we weapons can transform into our Weapon forms whenever we need or want to, and we can only fight with our Meisters if our soul wavelengths match.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'Some people don't have matching wavelengths with certain Weapons. For example, Black*Star cannot wield me properly because our wavelengths don't match at all, whereas Maka and I can fight together because ours do. You guys probably won't need to worry about that, though. Your wavelengths already probably match with your Weapons.'

'How exactly can we tell?' Rukia asks.

'If you concentrate, you can see the souls inside people and the way they resonate with the souls of their Weapons,' Maka explains. 'Some of us can see the souls easier than others-'

'Maka's got a real talent for it,' I interrupt with a grin.

'- and if they resonate well with each other, than Weapon and Meister have a better chance of fighting together,' Maka finishes, blushing slightly with a smile playing around her lips as she acknowledges the compliment I gave her. 'Kid, Liz and Patti always resonate strongly with each other, Black*Star and Tsubaki do depending on how big an idiot Black*Star's being-'

'Hey!'

'- and Soul and I do depending on whether we've been arguing or not,' Maka finishes with a smile, and I snort with laughter.

'So you're saying that we'll probably have to concentrate on resonating our souls with our Weapons?' Rukia says.

'Yeah, that always helps,' I answer.

* * *

**~Rukia~**

We're not in too much trouble, which is good.

I decide to go with Sode no Shirayuki back through the portal into our world, leaving Renji, Ichigo and their Weapons behind, but the moment I arrive back in Karakura Town Sode no Shirayuki returns to my side as an unreleased zanpakutô. It's not as if I was expecting any different, however. I immediately open a senkaimon and only a matter of fifteen minutes later I'm standing in my captain's office, facing Ukitake and Byakuya, who has also come here to investigate.

'An alternate dimension?' Ukitake is incredulous. 'Are you sure, Rukia?'

'Absolutely,' I say confidently. 'The ruling authority is called Lord Death-'

'Death himself?' Byakuya interrupts.

'Yes,' I answer. 'He's allowed us to stay in Death City, if the Soul Society will agree, and we definitely have reason to believe that Aizen is hiding somewhere in their dimension.'

'Are you asking for permission to stay there along with Lieutenant Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki?' Ukitake asks.

'We've made friends with some students at a special school there run by Lord Death. They've offered to train with us.'

'We shall have to ask Central 46 and the head captain, but I imagine given that you are probably in no immediate danger the answer will be yes,' Ukitake says.

As it turns out, my captain is right. A matter of three hours later, a decision has been made and it is that Renji, Ichigo and I shall remain in the other universe and shall train with the allies there, and we should report back if we discover where Aizen may be.

I pass through the portal to find Kid, Maka and Zangetsu. The others are nowhere to be seen.

'Where is everyone?' I ask as Sode no Shirayuki appears beside me.

'They all got bored,' Maka says simply.

As we walk through the forest, looking for the others, we find them all doing different things; Patti has found a patch of dirt at the foot of a tree and is happily drawing what appears to be giraffe, while Snake crouches down beside her doodling a cobra. Liz, Renji and Monkey are watching with looks of exasperation on their faces.

A little further on, Ichigo and Tsubaki are trying to prevent Black*Star and Hollow Ichigo from killing each other, while Soul leans against a nearby tree watching them with a grin on his face.

'Fools,' I mutter, and Maka laughs.

'So, are you allowed to stay here?' she asks.

'Yep,' I reply. 'We've got permission. We're no longer breaking the rules.'

'Shame, I like doing that,' Ichigo grunts as he attempts to drag his Hollow off an unconscious Black*Star.

'Tough,' I say with a smile.

'Does this mean we'll start training now?' Tsubaki asks as she fans Black*Star's face with a large leaf.

'I guess so,' Kid says. 'Liz! Patti!'

'Okay, okay, you don't have to yell,' Liz sighs as she pulls Patti along by the arm. 'We're coming.'

'Soul, get your ass over here!' Maka shouts.

'Aww! This is fun to watch!'

'And not fun to be a part of!' Ichigo mutters. 'Look, you've knocked him out. Leave him now,' he snarls at his Hollow.

'He was pissing me off!'

'Yeah, Black*Star has that effect on everyone,' Soul says, grinning from ear to ear.

'Hey! Lemme go!' Snake shouts as Renji appears through a gap in the trees, dragging the small boy by the tail with Monkey following behind, rolling her eyes.

'We're training now, idiot! Look, you're making us look like fools in front of the others!'

'This really is quite comical,' Soul snorts. 'This is gonna be really interesting...'

* * *

**~Maka~**

Liz and Patti quickly transform into their Weapon forms, landing perfectly symmetrically in Kid's hands, which always puts him in a good mood. The newcomers watch so they can see how it's done. There's silence for a few seconds as they stand in awe, then Snake asks, 'How come you hold the guns upside down?'

Snake promptly gets a joint hit on the head from Renji and Monkey for this latest question.

I close my eyes and focus my concentration, so when they reopen I can easily see the resonance, secure and powerful between Kid, Liz and Patti. Their soul wavelengths are joining well the way they always do, Kid's soul glowing crimson while Liz and Patti's are a light shade of pink.

'Can you see the way they work well together?' I ask.

'I can,' Rukia says, staring at the three in amazement. 'So that's what souls look like in this world, then? Little glowing orbs of different colours?'

'I can't see anything,' Ichigo states, tilting his head to the side as if that will somehow help him.

'Nor can I,' Renji agrees, squinting.

'That's because you're idiots,' Rukia says vaguely, not taking her eyes off Kid, Liz and Patti. A few of us laugh.

'What's it look like?' Snake whines.

'Be quiet!' Monkey snaps.

'All you really need to know is that their souls resonate well together,' I explain, trying not to laugh any more as I watch them all desperately concentrating in the hope that they can see what I can. Only Rukia seems to be able to actually do it.

I turn to Soul. 'Ready?'

'Yep!'

In a flash, Soul has transformed into his scythe form. He flies high in the air, then falls down where I catch him, beginning to spin him the way I usually do. Until about the point where I realise I look like I may be showing off. I stop then, and hold him still, giving everyone a sheepish look.

'Black*Star, wake up!' Tsubaki says, shaking him around the shoulders. He mumbles something about surpassing God and then falls silent again. Tsubaki frowns, and I brace myself, knowing that one of the rare moments when Tsubaki 'loses it' is about to come.

'BLACK*STAR! WAKE UP, RIGHT NOW!'

'Huh?! What'd I miss?!' Black*Star shouts, his head shooting upwards immediately.

'We're training,' Tsubaki says calmly, all hints of her previous outburst vanishing.

'YAHOO!' Black*Star cries, leaping to his feet eagerly. 'I'm gonna beat the crap out of all of you!'

'Sure, sure,' Ichigo mutters.

In another flash, Tsubaki has become a small sword his Black*Star's hand. He waves her threateningly, his eyes scanning all of us in defiance. 'Anybody wanna take me on? It may be the last thing you ever do.'

'Whatever,' I say, turning away from him to face the others. 'Why don't you guys give it a try?'

Rukia nods, then turns to Sode no Shirayuki. A few seconds later, Rukia is holding a katana in her hands. She holds it out in front of her with the blade facing towards the ground and her other harm holding onto the one clutching the hilt, then she calls, 'Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!' A white ribbon bursts from the hilt of the sword and grows outwards before our eyes. The hilt itself also changes shape, and both it and the blade also go very pale to a ghostly white. The snow white sword is absolutely beautiful.

'Whoa,' I whisper.

'Pretty awesome,' Black*Star murmurs.

'It's even symmetrical,' Kid breathes.

Rukia blushes, obviously embarrassed by all the attention she's getting. She turns to Ichigo and Renji and says, 'Well? Come on.'

Renji swallows. 'Uh, right.' Snake and Monkey look at each other and grin in anticipation, and then Renji, just like Rukia was previously, is holding an ordinary katana. He shouts, 'Howl, Zabimaru!' and the blade extends, gaining a spiky edge that you do not want to get caught on you. That blade looks like it could hurt. A lot.

Ichigo sighs, then turns to face his two weapons. Moments later, he is holding a kitchen knife as tall as his body. No, I'm serious. It really does look like a kitchen knife, and it is massive.

'Um,' Ichigo begins. 'Uh... Zangetsu's already in release mode, so I don't have a command.'

'That's fine,' I say.

_'Your Weapons are awesome!' _comes Soul's voice from the scythe in my hands. _'Makes me feel all crappy.'_

'Oh, shut up Soul,' I mutter. 'You're a great Weapon already.'

I can practically see him smirking in the reflection on the blade. _'I guess all these compliments we're paying each other means that we'll have a perfect soul resonance, huh?'_

'I suppose you're right,' I answer with a smile, subconsciously rubbing my hand against the blade of my Weapon, only a few seconds later realising how affectionate that may appear. I take my hand away, feeling hot in the face.

'So, we all ready to train?' I stammer, feeling really awkward now as I notice everyone's watching me.

'Sure,' Rukia says, giving me a knowing smile, as she seems to also know what it's like being the centre of attention. 'Let's go.'

* * *

**~Ichigo~**

'The two of you have a perfect resonance,' Maka says in awe, staring at Rukia and the released Sode no Shirayuki. 'You obviously work really well together.'

_'Lady Rukia and I understand each other well,'_ Sode no Shirayuki answers, sounding pleased and proud of how she and her wielder are obviously a success.

'So, what exactly can your Weapon do?' Kid asks curiously.

Rukia smiles. 'My zanpakutô has two main dances, Tsukishiro and Hakuren. My third one isn't exactly one I use very often. There are other techniques I have, but Tsukishiro and Hakuren are my main ones.'

'White moon and white ripple,' Maka translates. 'That sounds amazing.'

'What about you?'

'Who, me? Just Witch Hunter. And Genie Hunter. And-'

_ 'Maka, you're making it sound like it's no big deal,'_ says Soul. _'You're really strong, you were able to defeat Asura, so stop underestimating yourself.'_

Renji and Zabimaru are having less success with their soul resonance. According to Maka and Rukia, the three are connecting but it is reluctant and not very strong. Just something they'll need to work on, I guess. And after that, all eyes are on me.

Well, here goes nothing.

I concentrate hard but I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do in this dimension. Back in our world, when I needed to borrow Zangetsu's strength and fight alongside him, I just looked deep within myself, but as neither he nor my Hollow reside within my inner world any more, will that still work?

Then I feel it. I can sense Zangetsu's soul. It's sort of like being able to sense his spiritual pressure, but it's his actual soul, and I'm beginning to see it. We're surrounded by some sort of black void as I close my eyes and focus on the soul. It's grey, and at first it makes me want to laugh at how it's definitely, recognisably him. A sphere (like what Rukia described) with a depressed expression on his face, his sun shades there as well. And beyond him, over in the distance, a pale white soul, spiky around the edges, too far away for me to make out properly.

'Your resonance is complicated,' comes Maka's voice in the distance, and I'm tempted to open my eyes but I resist because I know I will lose all the concentration if I am to do that. 'You are resonating, sort of, but not properly.'

_'What do you mean?' _Soul asks.

'Ichigo is able to resonate on an acceptable level with Zangetsu, but there is hardly any wavelengths passing between him and his Hollow,' Maka answers. 'The Hollow and Zangetsu are able to resonate slightly, but it's not the strongest bond I've ever seen...'

'So basically, we all have a lot to work on,' I mutter, deciding now's a good time to open my eyes.

'Pretty much, yeah,' Maka says.

'It's all down to trust, really,' Kid puts in as Zangetsu, Snake, Monkey, Sode no Shirayuki, Liz, Patti, Tsubaki, Soul and the Hollow all materialise once more.. 'Meisters and Weapons always fight better together if they trust each other. But Ichigo and Hichigo- can I call you Hichigo?'

'No!'

'Ichigo and Hichigo need to trust each other.'

'Yeah, see, well, that's probably the bit where we fail,' I mutter, trying to avoid eye contact with my Weapons. Especially the Hollow.

'Well, we just have to keep training!' Maka says enthusiastically. I swear, she's great at sounding upbeat.

Soul glances up at the sky and says, 'We should probably call it a day; it's getting late.'

He's right. I turn to stare at the setting sun, trying not to find the face on it which I first noticed yesterday too disturbing.

As we make our way back to Death City, Rukia comes to walk beside me at the back. 'More training tomorrow, I guess.'

'Yeah.'

She frowns. 'Don't get depressed. I mean it, Ichigo. Nobody wants to put up with it.'

I sigh. 'You're so considerate, midget.'

'Don't call me that, strawberry.'

I make a 'tsk' noise. 'It's a good thing we don't have to make our souls resonate. All this arguing wouldn't help.'

She smiles. 'Yeah, it would be hell. I'm serious, Ichigo, if you get fall into depression, I'm going to pull you out again.'

'And your methods are cruel!' I add with a groan.

She flashes me a grin. 'Exactly.'

Well, I suppose, at the end of the day, this training session as a whole was more of a success than a fail. That's something to think about.


End file.
